THIBODAUX, La. – Coming off a series win, the Nicholls State University softball team will look for its third straight victory as the Colonels head to Baton Rouge to take on No. 4 LSU on Tuesday night at Tiger Park.
First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on SEC Network+. Live stats and a link to the video can be accessed by visiting geauxcolonels.com.
Nicholls (16-11) dropped its opener against Sam Houston State on Saturday night, but swept Sunday's doubleheader to win its first Southland series of the season. After winning 5-3 in the first game, the Colonels racked up 14 hits in the second to run-rule the Bearkats.
Danielle Phillips led Nicholls at the plate, going 5-for-10 in the series including a 3-for-3 day in the opener. She increased her average to .333 for the season, ranking behind only
Amanda Gianelloni (.366) and
Alexis Huss (.358). Huss hit .444 against the Bearkats and drove in three runs, tying Gianelloni for the team lead with 20 RBIs. Gianelloni had a walkoff hit on Sunday, driving in two to give Nicholls a 9-1 victory.
The 14-hit performance against Sam Houston was the Colonels' ninth game this season where they have recorded 10 or more hits. As a team, Nicholls is batting .299 which ranks fourth in Southland. The Red and Gray pitching staff have the best ERA in the league, posting a 2.37 mark in 27 games.
Hannah Haydel and
Megan Landry both picked up wins over the weekend, improving their records to 8-5. Haydel is second in the SLC in ERA (1.78) and strikeouts (72), and leads the league with a .194 opposing batting average. The senior hurler also earned her first save of the season, pitching two innings of relief in game one of Sunday's doubleheader.
LSU (25-5) is coming off a series loss to No. 11 Texas A&M, winning the second game in College Station. Earlier in the week, the Tiger offense exploded as they racked 27 hits in a 30-8 road win at Louisiana Tech. LSU ended the game in the sixth as they pushed 15 runs across the plate.
The Tigers are batting .366 as a squad, with six players hitting .350 or better. Sahvanna Jaquish leads LSU with a .438 average, and she is one of three players with 30 or more RBIs. Bianka Bell is hitting .418 and has been the Tigers' top run producer with 39 RBIs, and she is followed by Jaquish (37) and Kelsi Kloss (34).
The LSU pitching staff has a 1.84 ERA, with four pitchers logging at least five starts. Carley Hoover is 10-1 with a 2.31 ERA and 100 strikeouts, while Sydney Smith has a 6-1 record with a 0.71 ERA. Also pitching for the Tigers have been Allie Walljasper (4-3, 1.65 ERA) and Baylee Corebello (5-0, 2.59 ERA).
In last season's matchup, Nicholls struck first with a run in the third, but LSU tied the game in the bottom half and went on to win 6-1.
Brooke Morris had the lone RBI, while Haydel took the loss after pitching four innings. Bell was 4-for-4 with four RBIs for LSU, and Corebello pitched a four-hit complete game.
